


Dancing Sparks

by THybrid21



Series: Art of the Insert [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Aditional Tags to come, Alternate Universe, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Reincarnation, Supernatural Elements, Use of Headcanon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2016-03-04
Packaged: 2018-03-22 20:30:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3742594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/THybrid21/pseuds/THybrid21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Death, death is not fun. Neither is been reborn really, and she could really care less about changing the world that she’s in. Yet, things have already changed just by her existing as the twin to one of the main players. So she might as well go the whole nine yards, because really, What’s the worst that could possibly happen?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So like an idiot I’ve jumped on the Insert train. Although I wouldn’t call this one a self-insert, no if you people want that then you’ll have to wait for me to finish off some world building, this is just an OC-insert really. I’ve been inspired by quite a few of the other insertation fics in this fandom, quite a few of them. There’s no single one that gave me a huge inspiration but the main ones are the following:  
> Dreaming of Sunshine(by Silver Queen)  
> Catch Your Breath(by Lang Noi)  
> Iryo-nin Kasa(by Vaengir) and it’s parallel Cheating Fate  
> Joyous Children(by UnderneathXtheXunderneath)  
> Runner(by CompYES)  
> Dysphoria(by Supernatural Crossover Girl)  
> So yeah... Those are the main six that I drew inspiration from for this... Also third person because first would be stupid when I might just end up killing her off later on... I’ll see where the plot bunny takes me.

She’s dead, she’s dead and has no idea how she’s supposed to respond to that. One second she’s finishing off her food and browsing YouTube, the next she’s choking and now... She’s dead. Death by choking on her own food, a stupid accident that probably could’ve been prevented had she been paying more attention to herself.

Really though, now she’s simply stuck floating in this strange half-space, half-way between here and there. Wherever there is, she’s still got something of a body at least and that’s, that’s a relief. She’s glad that she’s still able to move around and do things, even if she can’t really change anything at all. She can watch and observe, observe her friends, family and the world as a whole. On the whole it’s rather boring really, absolutely nothing to do but hover and watch from the sidelines.

It’s also rather depressing, watching her family find her body and the subsequent funeral. She’s only sixteen and she’s already dead, a humiliating death as well. She doesn’t think that she’ll be bragging about this one to other ghosts or whatever if she encounters them. No fire, no car-crash, no dramatic rescuing of someone else, or a school shooting, simply an accident, it’s humiliating when put into that context. She huffs out a sigh and crosses her spectral arms over her chest rolling her eyes at the world as a whole.

After an indeterminable period of time she slowly fades away from the grasp of her own world and finds herself in a strange hall. She’s alone and feels a bit more solid but she isn’t really sure what’s going on and her guard is instantly up. The hall is plain, and seems to stretch on for eternity but there’s just something off about it. Slowly she relaxes and looks around before feeling a strange tug. She winces a bit at the tug but ignores it in favor of staring down the hall and at the flickering light in the distance.

The tug comes again, and with it an urge to yawn. The light is tempting and she begins to walk slowly towards it. As she grows closer to the light the tug seems to grow fainter, yet she pauses. She raises one hand and yawns before looking up at the light. It would be so easy for her to simply step into it and see where it takes her, yet at the same time. The tugging is still there and slowly, slowly she takes a step back and rubs at her eyes due to tiredness. She shakes her head and reaches out one hand before freezing.

Distantly she’s able to hear screaming, and the tug is once more strong. With a thoughtful frown she takes another few steps away from the light. The tugging increases along with the lethargy she’s feeling. Sleep sounds really nice and she yawns again before falling, falling out of the hall. She’s not entirely sure what’s happening but she closes her eyes and an encompassing, welcome darkness encloses her.

It’s a long while before she awakens again.

-L/B-

The first thing that she’s really aware of afterwards is that she can hear a steady beat. A steady and constant _Thump-Thump_. A heartbeat. It’s comforting and she barely stirs in this strange place. Yet, the constant beat isn’t the only company that she has in this strange place. There’s someone else here with her, another presence alongside her own. It’s different yet familiar and she reaches out with whatever sense she has to determine what it is.

It’s alive, alive like she is. Growing and alive, still just a flickering light though, barely any presence and she pulls back to herself for fear of accidentally snuffing that light right out. She doesn’t want to put her strange company at risk after all. Not if they’re here together, growing together. As she floats in the darkness she has to think, it’s not like there’s that much else to really do after all.

Well, apart from sleeping and monitoring the other presence. She routinely finds herself reaching out with this strange new sense of hers to check on it. To connect just that little bit more with it. She finds that she’s growing protective over this other, this stranger in her place-their place. She’s not sure whether or not she really likes it. As it is she drifts in and out, spending most of the time thinking, reflecting on whatever this is, surely not death.

As the space grew smaller she feels as though she might know what this is. She knows because of fiction, fanfiction and some original fiction. ‘But surely it’s impossible’she thinks before stretching her senses once more to feel the familiar humming buzz of the other even as pressure seems to close in on them. Even as it becomes hard to think more clearly than _painpainpainpain-_

She’s screaming as soon as cold air hits her face. Screaming to be heard over the shouting that only her new mother(And isn’t that a bit of a mind trip) is doing. Screaming because she literally can’t do anything else to express her discomfort with the situation. Everything is a blur of colour and sensation and she wants, desperately to go back. Back to the safe and dark place with the other.

Then, she feels them. The other is here to, and she stretches out that strange sense. It’s automatic really as she connects with them. Connects and they both stop screaming, it must be unsettling to the ones holding them though and they’re quickly in their mother’s arms. Their mother who is nothing more than a blob to their eyes. Yet she’s radiating warmth, safety, comfort and other things that say home.

After that they’re fed and then even as she tries desperately, she finds herself drifting off to sleep. Sleep and that comforting darkness that’s growing rather familiar to her.

-L/B-

She’s quick to decide that been completely helpless as an infant is completely boring. With nothing that she can actually do except observe the world around her, or meditate she finds herself bored out of her mind. Even observing her parents and keeping track of how much time passes is really, really boring. It’s not like she can really do that much though, and meditating is interesting enough at least. Also she’s actually able to understand most of what’s going on around her already, the merits of having a flexible infant brain with previous knowledge she supposes.

Of course, she’s sure that without her constant meditation most of that knowledge would be gone. These factors make her a rather quiet baby, especially when compared to her twin who often screams and cries out in the night. Often though she finds herself joining in when his screaming gets particularly bad. She doesn’t even really understand why herself, but there’s a connection and when he screams she just knows why and wants to be able to help him. She wants to help him but can’t so she just joins in when it becomes too much.

Time passes fairly quickly all things considered though, and she’s adapting. There is a rather large scare at one point though, she wakes with an itch spreading throughout her whole body and begins to scream. Her brother’s own screaming soon joins her own and their parents have absolutely no idea of how to calm them down. Eventually the sensation calms down, but it’s still there, all the time and she has no idea how to deal with it. She just sort of adjusts to it really and continues to grow learning and enjoying the time with her family.

There’s something about it all that rings with familiarity though and she begins to worry over it. Her worry also causes her to pay more attention to everything, her family and where they live. It takes a while for her to notice, but when she does she stares. Both of their parents prone to disappearing at odd times wear matching headbands, or rather _hitai-ates._ Her parents are shinobi! Everything just sort of clicks into place after that, the name Uchiha.

Uchiha Netsu, Kyoko(her mother never used their last name and she wonders at why). She’s Uchiha Tomoko, the twin sister to Uchiha Obito. As in the Uchiha Obito who became Tobi and almost destroyed everything.

Well, that’s certainly the set up to an interesting life.

 


	2. Fragile Illusions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took my sweet time really. I really have no excuses for why this took so long, I really don’t. It’s just not something that I’m going to be able to justify at all. I mean I had the inspiration and the ideas, it’s just, I couldn’t really get it down. Although these early chapters are more or less just filler, with baby fluffiness they are kind of important, to the point of setting up possible futures and everything. Not that there’s much substance to them or anything. Also again I am really sorry and I have no excuses for how long this took.
> 
> Also as a side note, I find myself doing more on simple headcanon compared to actually writing. So there’s that, and another thing. This world/timeline was AU before Tomoko was even born, and some of those things will be appearing in this chapter albeit subtly.
> 
> Quick Key:  
> “Talking _English_ ”[Reversed in Dreams]  
> ‘Thoughts _Twin Link_ ’

It’s the set up for an interesting life, that’s for certain. But it’s not the set up for a life that Tomoko would enjoy and the understanding that she’s in a fictional reality, one that her younger siblings always gushed over and adored is more than enough to send her reeling. To cause her to retreat into her own mind and more or less block out most of reality. _I reject your reality_ , in full effect as she pretends.

She blocks out any and all thought of mythical ninja and the little that she knows of the Naruto franchise and then proceeds to plaster a gummy grin to her face. Any whispers of war, any whispers of it being the second and just now nearing it’s conclusion. She ignores them, or otherwise pretends that it’s against something familiar. After all it could just be a civil war right? Right?

Hints of the truth keep showing up, but she rejects them off hand. A rubber kunai, it may be her favourite teething object but it’s nothing more than a rubber item in her mind. People leaping from rooftop to rooftop, they’re stuntmen, and stuntwomen, not ninja. Everyone around her is a cosplayer. Of course her denials become even more outrageous and far fetching the longer she tries to insist to herself that it’s all just normal and that it’s not the Naruto world that she’s now in. Contact lenses, the heat, seeing things, just a coincidence that she has so many relatives that it’s near impossible to clearly remember each and every single one of them.

Obito whines and pokes and prods her trying to get her to interact with him once more but she simply stares blankly. Their connection is still there and she doesn’t mess with it. It’s the only thing that she thinks might be normal here, that she allows herself to keep. After all twins are always connected right? Right?

There’s a twist in her gut and she is well aware that something wrong is coming. She just isn’t quite ready to drop her denial, to allow herself to admit that this is reality now. She’s not ready to live as an Uchiha. She’s not yet ready to live this life, unfortunately there’s a part of her that’s fully aware, that she has to get ready, and soon.

There’s something coming, it’s a feeling in the air. A feeling that she has even when laying in bed and resting by her twin. A feeling that’s always there and it makes her worry.

* * *

The day dawns bright, and just a touch cold. Their birthday falls near the end of winter after all and she squirms a bit beneath her blankets before opening her eyes wide. Yawning she smiles and squirms managing to kick away the blankets. Her hands stretch up and she rolls over before pushing herself up and sitting up in her wooden prison of a crib. The air is still just a bit musty and contained, dust glittering in the early morning’s light.

She’s easily able to push those things away though and instead focuses on slipping into something of a mediative trance to sort her thoughts out. She files away her dreams from the night before, goes over a few pieces of information from her last life that just feel important and then once she’s sure that all that’s finished, she sends a mental poke in her brother’s direction. It’s small, it’s subtle, but it works and he squirms from his spot in the crib opposite her before opening his dark eyes and fixing them on her.

She grins at him before shifting a bit and moving her hands to the bars of the crib. She opens her mouth and is about to commence plan wail when there’s a chill. Everything freezes in place, even seemingly the dust in the air. Obito whimpers a bit and he shifts eyes darting around the room and seeking something. All she can feel though is the chill, and something is wrong. Beyond the cold in the room when the window is definitely shut, beyond that little chill there is something else that’s screaming at her senses.

Stretching them out she knows that their parents are still in the house. She can easily find and feel them. Both their mother and their father, sleeping peacefully in their room down the hall. And Obito’s right across from her and aware that something is wrong as well. But there’s still something that’s just not right, it’s in or around the house and it’s not right, she can’t pin-point it but she knows it’s there. Obito whimpers again and he’s looking at the window. Her eyes slowly follow his to the window and she stares out.

There’s nothing there. But, but there is and her eyes narrow and focus. A slight twitch in the breeze, a glimpse of something, or someone. But it’s gone before she can actually determine or figure out what it is. It’s chilling really and she shivers, curling in a bit and hugging her arms to her body. The sky seems to darken, clouds drifting over the sun and lengthening the shadows of the room. It’s cold, and she whimpers a bit alongside Obito. Her eyes slide shut and she tries to block out the feeling of wrong, she tries to ignore it but it just seems to strengthen. To rise up all the more and make her feel a bit queasy in the stomach.

They’re being watched, something is watching them, she can feel the prickle at the back of her neck. Feel her hair standing on end, and feel Obito’s own mounting confusion and fear. Her eyes snap open once more and are instantly drawn to the window and there’s a shadow against the pane. A trail of water over the glass, small, barely there but something that her eyes pick out in an instant. And, her head turns to face the sliding paper door. She can hear footsteps, even as she knows that their parents are still fast asleep in the room down the hall.

Obito’s watching her, eyes wide and confused and she is aware of that. She’s aware of her brother’s confusion, his need to understand what’s going on, his want to understand. But this no longer feels wrong, it no longer feels bad, it simply feels strange, different and important. Her head tilts and she watches as the door slides open catching Obito’s attention and he faces it along with her. It’s only a shadow in the doorway, but it’s achingly familiar in a way and she feels her breath catch in her throat and her heart beat echoes in her ears.

It’s her father in the door. Her old father, messy blond hair, dark grey eyes that glint silver as the dust and light of the morning catches in them. It feels right, but it’s wrong and she simply stares, even as she wants to reach for them, reach out to her previous lifetime’s father. But, but Obito’s still right there and her awareness of him keeps her grounded, keeps her simply watching as the man in the door scans the room before his eyes settle on them. The man frowns, mouth a thin line and eyes narrowing before they open their mouth.

_"Heather?"_ hearing her old name is almost a shock and Obito makes a strange sound before babbling a bit in what she mentally calls toddler. _"Heather, be careful. Dreams are fine while you’re sleeping, but you need to remember to wake up!"_ and with that eerily cryptic statement done the figure steps back out of the room and slides the door shut once more. She blinks and Obito looks over to her. The chill in the air is mostly gone, but she can still feel something that’s there. That’s fringing on the edge of her senses.

_"W’at dat?"_ hearing her brother speak, and in almost English her head snaps around to stare at him. They’re only just barely one after all. The fact that he spoke, and in the moments just after their strange visitor make her gut twist just slightly. Something is brewing and she’s not sure whether she’s going to be prepared to face it.

* * *

The rest of the day passes without any incidents though and the feeling slowly goes away. Simply enjoying the wind-down of the evening she rests happily on their mother’s lap. The scent of lilies, and a spring breeze around her, comforting her and making her feel at home. It’s nice really and she simply sits there and breaths it in basking in the presence of her family. Across the room her father is holding a sleeping Obito and it’s peaceful. After the chaos of the afternoon, after meeting some of the other members of their family, simply being just here, just in the presence of their immediate family is fantastic.

It’s calm, and even though the evening is cool, she feels comfortable. Her mother, Kyoko is humming a light and warm tune as she gently rocks her. It’s calming, and her eyes droop closer to closed with her head resting on Kyoko’s chest. The steady thump-thump beat also works to help calm her, to make her mind drift. To make her sleepy, to make her feel ready to simply drift back into the grip of unconsciousness. Yet she can’t quite drift off fully, because every time she does, the words from earlier ring out in her head.

_You need to remember to wake up._ And her eyes fly back open as she squirms a bit before relaxing once more. Except that it’s not really relaxing as much as it is trying to ignore the voice whispering in her head. She doesn’t like thinking about waking up, or thinking about dreams. There’s just something sinister about both things. So she squirms just that little bit more in her mother’s arms before relaxing once more. It’s comfortable, even with the niggling sensation of something just being slightly off.

Even here wrapped in her mother’s arms and listening to the steady beat can’t completely erase the feeling. Can’t prevent the warning and words from earlier ringing out in her head. Therefore she simply rests in Kyoko’s arms, breathing in the familiar scent and committing it to memory. It’s a comforting memory really, and she squirms a bit more before finally finding a position to settle in. A familiar memory that brings to mind faded fields of flowers and a blurred smiling face.

She blinks and the moment is over, the flowers fading away and the face forgotten. Except that it feels important, the memory feels important. Even as it evaporates into smoke and slips from her grasping fingers. And when did she reach out to try and grab it? Her head is spinning and she whimpers, tears welling up at the edges of her eyes before Kyoko lifts her up and draws her into a hug. She closes her eyes and allows the tears to fall as she buries her face in her new mother’s chest.

At that exact moment though there’s a stutter, the beat falters for a single moment before continuing steadily. It’s more than enough though and Tomoko feels the seeping cold in her body. She feels the fear, and the pain, the weight of just knowing that the stutter meant the beginning of the end of their peaceful family life. She just knows it, instinctively she knows that the stutter is a bad thing. It reminds her painfully of her younger sibling in her last life, of their asthma.

Of breathing problems, of choking. Her hands fist bunching up the material of her mother’s shirt beneath them. She’s choking again, the food caught in her throat, vision darkening at the edges and a slight fog of white leaking in. And then, it’s over and she’s back to normal. Blinking and fisting her mother’s shirt, but normal. A hand is rubbing soothing circles on her back and she slowly tilts her head back to look up into her mother’s face.

Wisps of soft brown hair that frame a delicately rounded face. Brown eyes that meet her black ones, tinted with worry that makes her own stomach curl. It hurts to know that she’s worried her newest parents, it hurts even though she really couldn’t help it. She doesn’t want to hurt her new family, ever. But, that stutter worries her, the faltering of a heartbeat. It’s never a good sign, no matter how healthy a person may seem to be on the outside. It worries her, especially as something whispers in her mind _orphan_.

It fades though, she pushes it away and slowly relaxes, resting her head back against her mother’s chest. The beat remains steady and lulls her back into a state of mostly relaxation. Before there’s a faint poke in her mind. Her eyes snap back open and they slide over to her brother who’s giving her a look of confusion, questioning. She doesn’t respond with anything other than a faint echo of comfort, of calm, of safety. It’s enough and he resettles into their fathers arms eyes closing once more.

It’s peaceful, calm and she yawns a bit fisting the cotton in her hands. It’s soft and comforting, the feeling of love of acceptance of home. That’s when something else brushes up against her senses, and she slowly raises her head.

"That would have to be Toriko!" Netsu grins as he shifts Obito who screws up their face before peering up at him. Tomoko’s head tilts before she faces vaguely in the direction of the front of the house. And here she’d thought that they had already met everyone of importance, or at least those who actually cared to meet them. So lifting her head she watches as the doors opened and a lady who looks incredibly like Kyoko steps in.

She assumes that this would be Toriko, trailing after the familiar stranger are several other strangers. One with silver hair sticking up in a fashion that reminds her vaguely of the thorny weeds she sometimes used to pull from the garden, one with blue(BLUE!) hair and two little brats with red hair. They’re only a bit older than her and Obito really, but still brats. She watches, her eyes narrowing slightly as they crowd in.

"Eri is busy with her own new family" it’s an apology along with the rest of the statement "Nawaki had a mission." definitely an apology.

"So that’s why Masayoshi wasn’t here earlier. I had wondered..." she ends up tuning them out instead focusing on the brats. Both are around four years old, really only a bit older in comparison to her and her brother. Both of them have bright, bright red hair, like flames really. She kind of wants to reach out and grip it, see if it’s as warm as it looks. See if it will burn her hands. The one on the right though has dark brown eyes compared to the left one’s blue eyes. It’s an almost eerie difference between the two of them, because otherwise they’re identical.

She shivers slightly as those eyes focus on her in return. Observing her in the same way that she’s observing them. She sinks down into Kyoko’s arms a little bit, trying to avoid the duel gazes on her. It doesn’t really work much but it does make her feel a little bit better. It’s only a little bit better but its enough and she settles in her place listening idly to the chatter that’s going on over her head. It’s easy enough for her to slip back into the role of cute and somewhat oblivious _normal_ toddler really and she rests in her mother’s arms relaxing.

Until the beat falters again, and Kyoko’s cut off in the middle of a sentence. It’s only for a moment, but it’s enough to capture the attention of all the adults. It’s also enough to completely freak Tomoko out, because it’s too familiar. Tears burn at the edges of her eyes before rolling down her cheeks and she clings. Too familiar in the context of asthma and breathing problems and _choking._ She refuses to let go of her mother’s shirt, even as Toriko gently pries her fingers apart before removing her from the room along with Obito.

And the eerie twins, the blue haired man remains with them. He tries to keep them calm, to offer comfort or at least attempting to. It’s not working very well, especially because Tomoko knows, she knows death and she knows that falter. She knows exactly how terrifying it can be to see someone else suffer with trouble breathing. She knows how it feels to be unable to breath as well, remembers choking and wanting desperately for air.

The burning aching feeling, a hollowness and desperation to just breath. Something sharp maybe, with a faint buzz in the head and darkness edging in. And then the way that it felt almost relaxing to stop trying. Her hands are shaking, her whole body is shaking, and tears are trailing silently down her cheeks before dripping down onto the mats beneath them. Obito’s not really that much better, he can tell that something’s wrong simply from her own reaction. Which has led to him more or less screaming and generally being difficult to settle down.

She wonders distantly if she should feel sorry for her mother’s cousin but dismisses the thought off hand. She doesn’t want to feel sorry for him, she doesn’t want to. What she wants is for her mother to be fine. For Kyoko to be fine, because they’re a normal family! A normal family, except the edges of that picture are cracking. They have been cracking the whole time, and seeing how quickly everyone’s reacting to this. Feeling the energy in the air swirl and spike, understanding exactly how everyone is moving so fast.

It’s almost too much. But in the end when Kyoko can’t be saved it’s still perfectly normal. People die of heart failure all the time after all.

* * *

"Wake up! Damn it, you need to wake up!"

"I don’t want to..."

"Please, please wake up! You can’t spend your whole life in a dream!"

"But it hurts less... I don’t... I can’t!"

"Please! Please stop hurting us! Please wake up! Please... Don’t ignore the warning..."

"Warning?"

* * *

The months pass in a state of mourning that just doesn’t seem to end. The house is strangely silent, and everything kind of aches without her mother there to brighten up the mornings with a smile. Their father is rather subdued, where before he was all energy and love of life, different from the rest of the family he’s now incredibly serious. Sombre really, yet whenever they’re alone with him he’s still the same.

With them he’s still the same and that relives her. It’s a small comfort, but it’s a comfort nonetheless. Because as long as he’s able to interact with them in an almost normal way then it’s okay, it’s nice and it’s safe. Except that beyond his smiles Tomoko can see something dark, something that’s just wrong. It scares her, but she plasters on her now toothy smiles and simply pretends that everything’s going to be okay in the future.

Even as they’re both left more and more often with one of their very, very distant relatives. It’s worrying, but she pushes it away. Ignores it hoping desperately that things will eventually straighten out and return to some semblance of normalcy. Until he doesn’t come back.

It’s a hot day, with the sun shining brightly overhead and generally making Tomoko wish that they had an air conditioner that she could simply sit down in front of. Netsu’s been gone for a few days, sent away by their relative to see one of his friends and hopefully stop moping. Apparently though said relative found that it would be too dangerous for either her or Obito to join him on his trip. Honestly Tomoko finds that she could really care less about that, as long as their father comes home anyway.

She does wonder what kind of things he’ll bring back with him though. Considering even now, while he’s moping around he always brings back little trinkets and other things from his trips outside of the village. Since from what she’s heard he’s going to a rather colorful seaside village she’s hoping that he’ll bring back some decorative wind chimes or charms to hang at the door. There is a rather large part of her though that’s simply annoyed with the whole situation. She wonders why it was supposedly too dangerous for her and Obito to join him on his trip.

If Netsu was just visiting friends then why couldn’t they go and meet them as well? She snorts and rolls over a bit facing up at the roof and stubbornly ignoring their relatives. She’s also stubbornly ignoring Obito, because she has the feeling that if she looks over to him right at this moment it will probably lead to maniacally laughing. Again, because she’s currently being ridiculous like that. Ignoring that she reaches out with her arms and begins to pull some silly faces up at the roof. It’s something to occupy herself with, that won’t make her overheat.

It’s also a way to prolong learning to crawl everywhere. Since she’s lazy, except that she’s already talking. Babbling away in a mixture of English and Japanese, or whatever the language of the Elemental Nations is. It seems like Japanese, but what does she even know. A smile comes to her face when she remembers saying her first word, not the usual Yes, No, Mum or Dad but rather her brother’s name.

"’bito!" well, almost her brother’s name. For some reason she can’t quite begin it correctly. She likes to say it though, and then begins to laugh. Her next few words were of course more normal with no quickly becoming a favourite word to use. She rolls again before pushing herself up into a sitting position, bored of making faces. It’s more entertaining when there is someone to watch react to them anyway. "’bito?" she calls warily unable to spot him in the immediate vicinity. Which is worrying. For a one and six months old toddler he is more than apt at getting into trouble.

Chaos, disaster, hilarity. Even though she’s lazy, even though she’s not inclined to crawl at all. She at least knows how to roll and navigate herself around. But she doesn’t want to move that much, it’s summer. Nearing the end of summer, but still summer and the day’s hot. She’s a winter child, so’s Obito, but he seems to thrive no matter what. She prefers the cool though, and this place is not cold. There’s a crash and she’s brought back to focusing on reality. Especially when the sound of cursing fills the air. Probably Masayoshi, by the variety of it.

She’s really not sure what to think of that particular relative. Masayoshi is kind of a nut, but it’s a familiar type of nuttiness. Usually Nawaki is also there, to stop the seventeen year old from doing anything too ridiculous and stupid... Well apart from the cursing. No one can stop the effeminate Masayoshi from cursing. And seriously when she describes him as effeminate she means it. The first time that they had met him, she mistook him for a girl. Especially with his long hair held up in a ponytail, and the clothing that he was wearing at the time.

She has the feeling that he’s swearing is going to be catchy though. She perks up and peers over towards the open sliding door watching as Masayoshi comes back into the room. Held out in front of him and laughing is Obito. She blinks and peers at them, there’s something red splattered on the front of Masayoshi’s grey shirt. She vaguely hopes that it’s simply jam, or tomato paste, before simply decides that it is such consumables.

"’bito? ‘sa’oshi?" she stumbles a bit over Masayoshi’s name but it’s still enough to capture his attention. The seventeen year old’s onyx eyes meet hers and she offers an innocent smile. It probably looks devious, or otherwise mischievous because all Masayoshi does is narrow his eyes at her and hum. Even just the small single word statements are usually enough to attract attention around here. But then again growth in this place is weird, she’s seen a couple of two year olds already learning stretches, and three year olds doing similar.

She wonders vaguely if they’re all training for gymnastics or something similar, before shaking her head. It’s not all that important, not at this moment and she refocuses on Masayoshi who’s scowling at Obito. Which actually isn’t all that different from the way that the elder boy treats them normally. She still offers a smile though, mainly because that seems to make the older boy scowl even more. It’s a lot of fun really, the only thing annoying about it is the reliance on those around her.

"’Sa’oshi?" she prompts again causing him to spin around and face her, eyes narrowing into a glare. Before he can open his mouth to actually say anything though the front door opens. "’ou’aiko!" she shouts spinning around to face the other, slipping down onto all fours as if she were going to crawl. "Chichi ‘ome?" she asks a hopeful look on her face. He’s due to be back any day now, that’s a certainty. But, the face that their current watcher is wearing. The smile and hope filled look slides away to be replaced with confusion. There’s a twist in her stomach, a niggling feeling of wrongness that’s somehow also right. "’ou’aiko, Chichi come, ‘ome?"

The lady pauses before kneeling down and looking at her. There are shining stains on both cheeks. Tomoko raises a hand automatically to touch the stains, wet. That’s bad, but she continues to hope, to pray. It can’t be true, it can’t, they can’t be... It’s only when she finds herself snuggling into Shouraiko’s arms that she realizes that there are wet trails being left on her own cheeks. The she notices Obito staring in confusion, and maybe a little bit of fear. Everything’s cold.

It’s cold and all she wants is to see Netsu come in through that door. She wants to see her father, Obito’s father. Their father. "Chichi come ‘ome? Where Chichi?" her lips trembling as she talks in broken sentences. Before it slips straight into a mixture. English and Elemental "Chichi! _Father! Father! Where’s Father?_ Where’s _Daddy? Is_ Chichi ‘ome?" things just spill out as she begins to break down, as every wall begins to collapse. Half-remembered and half-forgotten information on a manga series, of a world long passed. Of this world and time that she’s being born into.

She’s in the Naruto series... Her father’s dead. They’re orphans. She’ll forget him, and Uzushio has being destroyed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh God damn it. I had so much trouble with the last little bit of the fic. I knew exactly what I wanted to happen, how it was supposed to happen, but it was so freaking hard. I’ve had the first half of this chapter, up to around Toriko’s introduction written for the better part of the last month and a bit. It was just writing the latter parts that were so hard...  
> I’m not entirely happy with this... But well, it’s done and I’m done with it. At least it makes sense, and she’s finally going to stop denying things... Mostly.


	3. Blurry Lines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least this is getting written now... Also freaking random abstract poetry attempts throughout this whole thing... It's open to interpretation but it just kind of wrote itself in. Also hey, now we get to see a bit more of them growing up... At least for a period. More Masayoshi in this chapter, and development of the clan and their family.
> 
> Anyway, can I just say that people should feel free to throw any sort of criticism or questions my way. Any sort of complaints about inconsistencies or things that don't make sense, anything that just bugs you or makes you wonder. I absolutely eat up criticism and use it to improve my work, and I'll answer all the questions that I'm able to without giving out any spoilers, because that's how I am.
> 
> Of course by _Constructive Criticism_ I mean grammar problems, or problems with the story flow mainly. Sure I'll take suggestions, but for the most part I do have a plan for where I want the story and characters to go in the end. Inconsistencies should be pointed out though, along with missing words(I once wrote a story, published it, came back a month later and I noticed that I'd missed the word door in a sentence and nobody had bothered to point that out to me even though they'd praised the rest of the story... Assholes.) and things that just plain don't make much sense in context either due to the way I've worded it or due to other things. Questions will be accepted along with speculation and suggestions but please, don't just complain about disliking the characters that I'm using or calling the plot stupid, those kind of opinions make me wonder why you're even reading if the plot isn't engaging for you. Pointing out my errors and mistakes though, or complaining about things that confused you because of a failure describing events properly though, fully accepted.
> 
> Quick Key:
> 
> "Talking _English"_ [Reversed in Dreams]
> 
> 'Thoughts _Twin Link'_

_A twisted smile behind cracked plaster, dripping crimson soaked strands. Silence chokes the lonely and forgotten, as innocence shatters._

Tomoko sits silent and still by the window. Her world is still mostly in shambles around her, Kyoko's dead, Netsu's dead. Orphan. The word brings so many different images and scenarios to her mind, heroes and villains, many of them with an orphaned background. And now she shares such a background with them, with her brother.

It's an event that she was powerless to stop, so she tries not to dwell on it too much. But at the same time she can't help but dwell on it. Her eyes staring blankly out at nothing through a fogged up window. Her brother fast asleep in a crib behind her. They're living with a distant cousin, Shouraiko. From their babysitter to their guardian, she closes her eyes and slowly lowers her head until her forehead rests against the chilly pane.

Handprints are left on the glass, as she breaths in and then out. It hurts, the loss of both of their parents. Kyoko and Netsu, haha and chichi, mother and father. The first to something easily passed off as still normal, but the second with the repeated statements of Uzushio's fall. She can't deny it any longer, she's in the Naruto Universe, or an alternate timeline of it at least. Her eyes flicker open once more and she takes another deep breath. And then another, staring at her pale reflection on the glass.

Messy dark hair framing a rounded and chubby face, typical button baby nose. Pools of obsidian reflected in white circles. Slowly a smile pulls at the edges of her mouth, it's not quite real. Shining white teeth and wide eyes. It's actually rather eerie and she instantly drops it. Raising one pale chubby hand the reflection does the same and she slowly turns away from the window. Away from the outside, her eyes are drawn to the sleeping form of her brother.

His chest rises and falls, even breaths that exude a kind of calm that settles over her. It allows her to think, to clear her mind and settle down into a cross legged pose. She's ready to meditate once more. To reflect and begin to plan for the future, closing her eyes she takes another deep breath. In, hold, out, in, hold, out. Focusing inwards is still hard for her, even though she's been working on meditation over the course of months really. Since she was around five months at least, and she's getting better.

Of course there's also the other effect that meditation has on her due to this new world. The system of her chakra that flows within her body, it's incredibly distracting. Because whenever she tries to meditate it sharpens and comes into focus much, much clearer. Breathe in and she can feel everything, breathe out and points within her own body just seem to light up. Yet she's mostly learnt how to ignore this, to push past it to focus on the rest of what she considers meditation as. It also gave her a much heightened awareness of everything else, time slowing down around her while in this state.

It's still incredibly hard though, and she finds herself giving some credit to those people who she used to once mock for talking about their own meditation sessions. Eventually she's able to mostly clear her mind, picturing in the exact center a light bulb. Every stray thought that drifts across the blank space is fed to the bulb as a current of electricity, and makes it shine brighter.

At this point this is the best that she can reach. Although, she has also managed to get to the point where she can pull up certain thoughts or memories. Where she can go over the information that she already knows and strengthening the memory. It's actually kind of useful really, even if she can't get beyond the lightbulb just yet. Even if she's not yet aware of what the rest of her mind-palace looks like or resembles.

She remains in place for a few long moments before allowing her eyes to open back up. She's still half-in the meditative state, and the difference in the world around her is stark. Time seems frozen, and everything is still. Still captured all in the moment and a smile winds its way across her face. Especially as she takes in another breath, feeling her own system before breathing out and feeling the chakra around her. She doesn't dare to do anything with it though, but she can feel it.

It's as strange as it sounds really, but it allows her to feel a bit more secure. Even if it's only the tiniest bit. Obito's signature burns brightly to her senses, resonating with her own thoughts and feelings and the slight buzz in the back of her mind. Elsewhere she can feel Shouraiko, with a sluggish signature that gives her the mental impression of a long burning candle. And of course the last person in the house, Masayoshi. She can only describe his signature as clogged, and fuzzy like smoke that's trapped in a bottle.

She allows it to drift away from her senses after that. Everyone's still in the house, and there are no unexpected guests either. Of course, even after dropping from sensor mode the familiar feel of chakra is still there. It's always there really, even if just as a hum in the back of her mind. It makes her kind of nervous really.

_Ashes, faltering footsteps coiling across rippling red. Black strands spear through life clinging, grasping, winding into halcyon days of youth._

The days pass in silent mourning for the most part. Adjusting to the hole that's been ripped in their family. The hole that for the most part Obito seems to be oblivious to. Then again, unlike her Obito actually is legitimately only around one and a seven months old. Not someone who's been reborn and is growing up a second time. Of course, now she's also considering the future.

Or at least, she's considering what she knows of the future. Which admittedly isn't all that much. She knows who Obito is, who her brother is and could be. And more than that, she knows of Kuro. Of the endgame. Really she's kind of thankful that her previous life's younger brother's were so eager to spill spoilers of their favourite series. Except, she doesn't have any clue what to even do with that information. Or how it should apply to this reality before her.

Especially because here and now she exists. It's kind of alienating really, because she watches and observes and just can't quite feel the connect with the rest of this world. Her brother is there, and he's important to her, but the future... While she knows some of what may happen, she can not be entirely sure that it's set. Or that it hasn't already twisted into something entirely unrecognizable to those little snippets that she's aware of.

It leaves her feeling kind of lonely as the wind whistles though the leaves and Summer slowly twists into Autumn and heads back towards Winter. Even with Obito there as her twin, there's the sharp contrast between them that she can feel and see. Because he's entirely of this world, and she's not.

So watching the world she begins to wonder... Why is she here?

_Tragic smiles in the grey, torn in fits of anger in regret. Dirt twirls on still water, winding paths in the absence of noise._

Tomoko hates crawling around, it still feels sloppy and weird. Uncoordinated even now, with clunky and dragging movements. Yet she's slowly making her way around, and hitting that developmental stage. She has no idea whether it's early or on time or what. Especially not in this world, where it's easy even now to push just that bit further.

To stand and orientate herself doing that, although any attempt at walking will usually end with her taking a short tumble. And laughing, because for some reason she finds the whole thing hilarious every single time she loses her balance. It's a different perspective compared to when she was a teenager still in that awkward stage of not quite knowing what the world is entirely about.

Of course even now, her understanding of the world is rather limited. More limited in fact since she can't really do anything beyond crawl around the house and spend time playing around by her twin. It's amusing trading silly faces and expressions with him, from squishing cheeks, to poking out tongues and of course hands accentuating expressions for maximin silliness. Usually such antics are done somewhat in front of Masayoshi, or Nawaki when the other boy is there.

There is something about Nawaki that bugs her, though. Whenever he's over he seems vaguely familiar for some reason. Beyond the fact that he's apparently a relative on some side of the family, she feels as though she should know him from somewhere else. It's an itch that makes her mostly avoid the older boy, her brother though has no such complications. Instead following Nawaki around with little care.

It's October, the middle of Autumn. And the same season that Naruto was born in from what little she recalls of the series. So as October 10th rolls around she finds herself falling increasingly quiet and wary. She knows on an intellectual level that nothing should happen since her brother is still the same age as her, yet she's still nervous around the date. So for most of that day she's incredibly twitchy and nervous much to everyone else's seeming amusement.

_Tunes of heartbreak, tunes of sorrow felt burrowing deep into the abyss. Reaching into darkness they scramble for the understanding of the shattered reality._

At the age of two Tomoko really is nothing special even in this world. She's nothing more than a spec in the face of the rest of the world. Nothing more than a child slowly growing up to make her mark. It's so different from when she was an awkward teenager taking care of her two younger brothers.

Except that she is special. With knowledge pre-packed into her head and bits and pieces of a possible future. So it's more of a surprise that she's doing so horribly when it comes to actually learning how to function in the world around her. Obito's already walking and running around the house impossible to catch and keep track of. Meanwhile she's barely able to toddle a few steps before reverting back to crawling around.

It's as frustrating as it is entertaining really and she enjoys the peace really. There's not that much pressure really. Except that there is, and whenever their other relatives show up there's expectation. They're expecting something better, something more and it bugs her. Since they're only just two. Only just dealing with the exploration and discovery of the rest of the world...

Only just beginning to learn stretches in preparation for a possible future as shinobi.

Honestly she hates the stretches and the routine because she's not sure if she wants to become a shinobi. She's not sure that she wants Obito to become a shinobi. Since the future of the other world, the other timeline had a very bleak outcome for their family.

Most of the clan dead.

Obito a monster bent on turning the world into an illusion.

Shisui(not born yet) a martyr

Itachi(also not even born yet) also a martyr, if an unknown one.

Sasuke(again not even born yet) a Revenge obsessed idiot.

All that because of shinobi. They are shinobi as much as they are the Military Police and sure, these stretches and practice sessions could probably be applied to that job as well but who wants to be a police officer.

They have to deal with so much bullshit that it's not even funny. Yet, shinobi also have to deal with bullshit. In fact everyone has to deal with bullshit. So she simply goes through the stretches and tries not to think too far into the implications of the future.

Tries not to think about the choice that's looming overhead.

After all there's another war coming even if no one else knows that. There's danger and disaster looming and she doesn't know where she wants to stand. It's almost like building a card tower really she muses as she stretches her fingers and body out. You know vaguely what it'll look like but you're not entirely sure how to get there.

Shinobi, Civilian, Officer, Doctor. There are so many paths and lines that stretch out from this point. It all begins in childhood after all and as she watches the others of their age group she can see it. She can see them fighting, or behind a desk doing paperwork. She can see them planning out their futures simply in the way that they move.

And she can see her brother, her twin as he flows through the stretches under the watchful eye of their cousins. She can see that he takes to them, enjoys them...

So why was he such an outcast and deadlast in canon?

Why was he considered a disappointment and black sheep. Because watching him she can see how he became the dangerous Tobi. She can see that potential. And even in her own movements she can see and feel her own potential for the future.

They could be the best or the worst. They could be anyone and it all begins here. Except that she's wavering, the lines are blurring and she doesn't know for sure if the path that she'll take is the one of a shinobi.

Because as far as she can see that path will only lead to disaster.

_Red, black, white in stark contrast with innocence once known. Naivette thrown, tossed into the roiling waves and twisting grey water._

Tomoko lies awake listening to the rain outside and reflecting on her life so far. She's living again, and in a world filled with such danger. She knows bits and pieces of a potential future and she knows her own potential. She reaches a hand out into the darkness in front of her and closes her eyes.

It aches and tears in her heart that she's lost both of her parents in this life already. That she's an orphan alongside her twin. But mostly it terrifies her since Obito needs to have more to keep him stable. They both do really and she holds no illusions of her own mental state.

The fact that she'll always have memories of another life once lived is definitely not a good sign for the future.

She opens her eyes again and she can almost see red dripping from her outstretched hand. Red from the monsters that lurk in the dark. Monsters that reside in the world around them and she pushes herself up into a sitting position. Looking around she soon sees it, the tanuki.

It sits and stares at her golden eyes glittering in the shimmering moonlight that peeks through the window. Of course it's not alone and with a bit of a closer look she can also see the inugami that accompanies it.

The one that always leaves red on her hands. Red that fades away by the time morning comes around. She takes a deep breath and nods her head at the both of them and then opening her mouth she gives her greeting in English:

" _Hello again. Moriyaku, Masago."_


End file.
